Mary Cain Makes 1500 Final

Jenny Simpson will join her; Symmonds wins 800 silver.

Mary Cain runs a 1500-meter qualifying round at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.

At 17, Mary Cain’s debut experience on the global track stage will continue later into the week as she, along with defending champion Jenny Simpson, made her way through to Thursday’s 1500-meter final at the World Championships in Moscow.

Women’s 1500SemisCain departed from usual hanging-back tactics; she was in fourth in her semi after the first 300 meters. Though she was later absorbed by more of the pack, Cain moved cleanly to the outside with 200 meters left – a little earlier than she usually does – and was able to comfortably come across in fourth in 4:05.21. The first five from each of the two semis, plus the next two fastest finishers, made it through to the final.

In the introductions for the second semi, reigning champ Simpson smiled through the pressure and fellow American Sarah Brown, who arrived in Moscow only a day before her first-round heat, managed to not look exhausted. The pace of the second semi was erratic and ultimately slower than the first, but at the end Simpson was one of three runners clear of the rest. She took third in 4:05.79 behind Sweden’s Abeba Aregawi (4:05.66) and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri (4:05.76). Brown faded to tenth in 4:12.16.

The surprising Zoe Buckman of Australia, who found running room on the inside lane, and Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, in 4:04.82 and 4:04.83, respectively, had the day’s fastest times in the first semi, but Aregawi, who was straining not at all as she won the second semi, looked like she'll be difficult to beat on Thursday.

Men’s 800Nick Symmonds seemed (and may have felt) like he was destined to earn the first U.S. gold at a world championships 800 as he led in the homestretch in Moscow, but he was overtaken by Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia, a man who knows what it’s like to defeat world record holder David Rudisha. Aman was timed in 1:43.31, Symmonds clocked 1:43.55, and Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman moved up for the bronze in 1:43.76. With less than a lap to go, dreams of a 1-2 American finish still seemed feasible, but Duane Solomon faded to sixth in 1:44.42. More on Symmonds and the men’s 800 is here.

Men’s 400The American 1-2 finish of the day came in the 400, with LaShawn Merritt and Tony McQuay taking gold and silver. Merritt, a 2008 Olympic and 2009 world champion, was in a tight battle with reigning world and Olympic champ Kirani James of Grenada around the final turn, at which point James was broken physically and apparently psychologically. Merritt was unchallenged down the stretch and dominated in 43.74. McQuay moved up for second in 44.40, and Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic took third in 44.52 as James faded to seventh.

Women’s 3000-Meter SteeplechaseNo Americans were in this steeplechase final, which more than any world championships event yet resembled a Kenya-Ethiopia dual meet. Athletes from those two East African nations occupied the top six places, with Milcah Chemos, who did much to push the pace, holding on strongly at the finish to win in 9:11.65, the best time in the world for 2013. Chemos had been a bronze medalist at these championships twice, and now becomes the first Kenyan woman to win world championships steeplechase gold. Her countrywoman Lidya Chepkurui was next in 9:12.55, and Sofia Assefa of Ethiopia earned the bronze in 9:12.84.

Men’s 5000 SemisFrom the two semi-finals, 15 of 29 runners advanced to Friday's final, with the top five from each heat plus the next five fastest times moving ahead. Some of the favorites ran only as fast as they needed to; defending champ Mo Farah, who’s already won the 10,000 in these championships, was fifth in his heat in 13:23.93, 2/100ths behind his training partner Galen Rupp.

Other than the fact that Moses Kipsoro of Uganda didn’t even start, there were no surprises in the semis. Edwin Soi of Kenya, who has the year’s fastest 5000 with a 12:51.34, was third in his semi in 13:21.44 and the two leading Ethiopians, Hagos Gebrhiwet and Yenew Alamirew, were first and second in their semi in 13:23.22 and 13:23.48, respectively. Americans Bernard Lagat (13:23.59), who won gold in 2007 and silver in 2009 and 2011 in the 5000 at the world championships, and Ryan Hill (13:24.19) were third and fifth in that semi. Read more on the 5000 here.

Two Medals for the EatonsCanada’s Brianne Theisen Eaton and Ashton Eaton of the United States were teammates and NCAA champions at the University of Oregon. In 2012, Ashton became the decathlon world record holder and Olympic gold medalist, and he added a decathlon gold in Moscow over the weekend, with 8809 points. Theisen led the women’s heptathlon after running 13.17 in the 100-meter hurdles, the first of the seven events. But Ganna Melnichenko of Ukraine was superior in the shot put and long jump and that was enough, ultimately, to give her the gold with 6586 points. Theisen Eaton, who closed with a 2:09.03 in the 800, took silver with 6530 and Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands earned bronze with 6477.